French Film Great Jean-Paul Belmondo Passes Away At 88; France Mourns The New Wave Cinema Star’s Demise

Jean-Paul Belmondo, a star of France’s New Wave cinema after his breakthrough performance in Jean-Luc Godard’s A bout de souffle in 1959, has died at his Paris home aged 88. The passing away of Belmondo, who was a leading figure in French cinema, has been felt across the country. President Emmanuel Macron has shared that France had lost a “national treasure” on his official Twitter handle.

Michel Godest, Belmondo’s friend and lawyer, shared the news of his demise and told BFM TV, “It seems to me that all of France is sad,” breaking down in tears. Godest also shared with AFP that Belmondo passed away peacefully at home and added, “He had been very tired for some time. He died peacefully.”

Jean-Paul Belmondo was born in a suburb of Paris on 9 April 1933 and was the son of Paul Belmondo, a renowned sculptor and painter Sarah Rainaud-Richard. The actor, who was known for his trademark bumpy nose, often performed his own stunts and was France’s leading comedy and action hero.

However, his switch in the 1960s to mainstream films and to shun the art houses led to criticism that he had wasted his undisputed talent – something he always denied. Addressing the criticism, Belmondo once said, “When an actor is successful, people turn their back on him and say that he has taken the easy way out, that he doesn’t want to make an effort or take any risks”

“But if it was so easy to fill cinemas, then the film world would be in much better health than it is. I don’t think I would have stayed in the limelight for so long if I was doing any old rubbish. People aren’t that stupid.”